At the toothless tiger community…
The old rocks collapsed. It was the work of the blue tiger.
“You are an absurd guy.”
Garam swept his long hair—soaked with blood and sweat—behind his ears and laughed. His eyebrows raised sharply as his eyes alternated between looking at the injured blue tiger and at the collapsed old stones.
“There is no precedent for humans to survive in the face of a god’s grudge. Even if you grab onto my ankles until I break down the few remaining of the 12 Zodiacs, Grid is doomed to die. He might resurrect a few times but he will always dance on the palm of my hand and suffer from tens of thousands of deaths.”
There was no value in a foolish sacrifice…
Mocking overflowed from Garam’s leisurely face. He had no doubt that he would be able to find Grid again and kill him, even if he missed Grid now. Honestly, he was enjoying it by this point. He wanted to have fun, like a hunter setting a fire and waiting for the raccoon to crawl out of the cave. He was holding the Cho Kingdom as a hostage.
The blue tiger shuddered. “Aheung. I feel sorry for you, a god’s creation who is pretending to be a god.”
“…”
Garam’s face was stiff. Humans and yangbans were no different, thus they should cherish each other and treat each other equally. A madman’s sophistry revolved around Garam’s head. He silently stared at the blue tiger for a moment before turning his attention to the 10 trembling toothless tigers.
“Since killing a god is impossible, I’ll have to torture and kill them to allay my anger.”
“Why are you obsessed with pointless killing?”
Garam snorted as the blue tiger blocked his way. “Didn’t I say that I was going to soothe my anger?”
Garam started to wield the sword like a whip. He shivered with joy as he remembered the days when he tortured the blue tiger. The wounds on the blue tiger’s body increased as he was forced on the defensive, only for the toothless tigers to cry out. “Aheung! The other yangban chased the human!”
“…?”
Garam and the blue tiger’s attention shifted at the same time. The tigers explained with an incomprehensible expression.
“T-The two of them are fighting! A yangban suddenly appeared on the side of the sheep community and crossed using the stones, heung!”
“There was no time to stop him, heung!”
“…!”
Garam and the blue tiger’s eyes were burning after they saw that the tigers weren’t lying. The blue tiger was worried about Grid and the Red Phoenix Bow while Garam was anxious about his dirty laundry being discovered.
‘The bitter candidates are the only one who can fool my senses.’
The bitter candidates—it referred to the yangban who finished 8th place and below in Chiyou’s test. They were beaten in the competition and weren’t worthy to be objects of faith. They were much weaker than the Seven, including Garam, but they were still yangbans. It was easy for them to subdue a human. In particular, Hangyeol was skilled and it was possible for him to deceive Garam’s senses. It would be easy for him to chase after Grid unnoticed.
“That son of a bitch…!”
Grid would’ve already been overpowered. That guy would cling to his cheap life as usual and tell Hangyeol all about Garam’s dirty laundry. Garam went crazy at the thought and rushed forward. The blue tiger and the toothless tigers were no longer his concerns. The moment he was ridiculed by the other yangban, his position might be weakened and he might be disqualified from the Seven.
Garam had to shut Hangyeol’s mouth no matter what. Since the stones were broken, it would take time to get to the rabbit community. He was forced to leave straight away.
The blue tiger sat down in place. He didn’t rush after the departing Garam. There was no reason to hold him with force. Grid would already be dead. It was too early to have given him the Red Phoenix Bow.
‘Pagma… I brought danger to your descendant…’
The guilt-ridden blue tiger was in tears.
***
Grid didn’t forget the thrill of seeing the yangban for the first time. The presence had been reminiscent of the legends of the West Continent and Grid had flinched back. Yes, the yangbans were strong. Those who had the blood of a god couldn’t be weak. The fighting energy that boiled the moment Hangyeol appeared proved the reality. However…
“Pinnacle Kill.”
Grid predicted the odds of winning. Unlike a few years ago, he didn’t shrink back. Now he was stronger and had penetrated the weaknesses of the yangbans. It was as expected.
“Ugh!”
Hangyeol was hit twice in a row by Grid. The fatal weakness of a yangban—it was that they made mistakes out of pride. Hangyeol was humiliated because he couldn’t respond quickly to Grid’s surprise attack. He never imagined that a human would dare to strike at a yangban.
“This swordsmanship… Kukuk! Was Garam caught off guard like this? I understand why his eyes are fiery now.”
“…!”
Following Kill and Pinnacle Kill, Grid tried to link it with Restraint only to reflexively fall back. There was a wave of air where Grid had been standing. It was caused by an invisible wind strike.
‘This strength…’
It was a technique with the power to make Grid silent. Previously, Garam had lured Grid to the East Continent using a quest and he used this invisible wind to turn Grid to tatters. This was one of the decisive reasons why Grid was afraid of Garam. How could a player beat a monster who won against the opponent using an attack with no form?
It was a power that caused Grid to feel frustration. Yet at this moment, he glimpsed the truth. The strike of invisible wind. The identity of this ability that Garam called ‘power’ was actually Formless Will. The power of willpower, embodied by those who had already awakened the heart. The yangbans were able to embody the ability with their innate willpower and called it ‘power.’
“It turns out that you’re pretty good,” Hangyeol muttered. Avoiding the intangible winds? This person wasn’t a normal human. It was unknown how he mastered Pagma’s Swordsmanship but he must’ve overcome human limitations in the process.
Hangyeol’s attitude became a bit more serious. He started using the power of the wind in earnest. The force of the wind that blew around Hangyeol gradually became faster and fiercer. He had no intention of pulling out the sword hanging from his waist at all. He looked at Grid in a relaxed manner despite already being hit twice.
It wasn’t because he was stupid. The yangbans had ruled humans for at least hundreds of years. They were a disaster to humans or saved humans according to their mood. It was fundamentally impossible for the yangbans to be concerned about humans.
In fact, Hangyeol’s wounds were already healing quickly. It was the power of the Red Phoenix Breath. No, there was no need to talk about the Red Phoenix Breath. The wounds he suffered weren’t deep in the first place. It was evidence that a human couldn’t harm the yangbans.
“Haha, I’ll break your legs first.”
Hangyeol gave a cheerful laugh and his personality was very different from Garam.
Garam, who had been deified for a long time, was obsessed with every little wound Grid dealt him because it was a blow to his pride. Hangyeol, who wasn’t chosen to be an object of faith, had endured for a long time and wasn’t obsessed with petty wounds.
He remained reasonable and calmly targeted Grid. An intangible wind swept over Grid. It wasn’t easy to avoid invisible attacks. This was the power of one who would become a god. Before great power, humans were supposed to kneel…
“…What?”
Hangyeol’s smiling face stiffened. The intangible winds were torn away without reaching Grid.
[The target’s solid will has neutralized the Formless Will.]
Formless Will was a power of willpower. It was a force that easily subdued targets with relatively weak or no willpower. It also meant that it wouldn’t work against strong-willed targets at all. The expansion of his mana core allowed Grid to open the willpower stat and Grid obtained Formless Will, but it was impossible to control it directly.
“This…!”
Hangyeol stood with a baffled expression and hurriedly grasped his sword. It was because the man engulfed in a dark red-purple aura quickly started dancing amidst the storm of wind. This dance wasn’t familiar to Hangyeol.
“Transcend!”
It was a sword dance that created sword energy. If he didn’t narrow the distance, the situation would be at a disadvantage for a while. Hangyeol rushed forward. He needed to approach Grid before the sword energy flew forward. However…
“Transcend—”
The time Grid took to complete the sword dance was faster than Hangyeol expected.
“—Link Kill Pinnacle.”
There were no gaps.
“…!?”
Four sword dances at the same time? No, not even Pagma…
Hangyeol’s thoughts didn’t last long. The dozens of energy blades that poured forward precisely aimed at his vital areas and contained killing intent to the extreme so there was no time to consider it.
“Kuek…!”
Hangyeol planned to twist the trajectory of the dozens of energy blades by drawing a large circle with his soft sword, but failed. Another weakness of the yangban was their lack of experience. Braham’s magic was in Pagma’s Swordsmanship. It was impossible for the yangban, who had been lazy all his life, to cope with the combined power of two legends.
[Fenrir’s Power is supporting the spirit of struggle that doesn’t lose. You have overcome the gap with the target.]
The damage of the fully buffed Grid was 100% applied, mangling Hangyeol’s body. Grid’s attack power penetrated even the defense of semi-god transcendent.
“Kuaack!”
His screams couldn’t stop and red blood poured out as Hangyeol collapsed. Grid was already in the process of using Transcended Link Flower.
“You…!”
Something was wrong. This person wasn’t Pagma’s successor. He was a monster who had surpassed Pagma. A chill went down Hangyeol’s spine as he used Lightning Speed and soared up into the sky. He had the idea of escaping from this place right away but Grid didn’t allow it.
“W-Who are you?”
Hangyeol’s face was white. He hadn’t expected Grid to also use the power of the blue dragon. He was caught by the chasing Grid and Hangyeol pulled out the power of the white tiger. The Red Phoenix Breath was busy restoring his wound so he had simultaneously activated the power of three of the Four Auspicious Beasts.
“Cough!”
Black blood poured from Hangyeol’s mouth. He couldn’t die in the hands of a human and did his best. A shield of stone walls that wouldn’t break appeared around him. Then the walls disappeared.
"I won’t allow your comfort.”
“…!”
Hangyeol crashed to the ground.
